Junk food in schools isn’t making kids fat, new study shows

How children eat at home has greater effect on childhood obesity than if kids eat junk food at school, a new study says. (Getty Images)

One-third of children are too fat, but a new study says it probably has nothing to do with junk food in the schools.

Researchers found that the percentage of children who had access to candy, soda and chips at school jumped dramatically between fifth and eighth grades — but it didn't translate into more pudge.

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In fact, the percentage of students in the survey who were overweight or obese declined between fifth and eighth grades.

Jennifer Van Hook, a Penn State sociology professor who led the study, said her team was surprised by the results.

"Children spend a lot of time in school and we expected school to have a lot of influence on them," she said.

Because the data flew in the face of conventional wisdom, Van Hook spent two extra years crunching the numbers to make sure she wasn't missing some connection between school food and childhood obesity.

Her conclusion: how kids eat outside and at home has a much greater impact than their exposure to high-fat or sugary snacks in school.

She noted that selling junk food in school doesn't mean middle-schoolers are pigging out there, especially when lunch is usually a half-hour.

"For vending machines, you have to put in money -- and that puts a limit on the endless eating they can do when they're home," Van Hook said.

In New York City, childhood obesity is on the downswing, following cutbacks in fattening food.

"One poorly designed study does not change the reality that junk food is bad for kids and it's bad for adults," said Health Department spokesman John Kelly.

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"Children develop habits in school that may last a lifetime, so their school environment should consist of access to healthy foods.

"While childhood obesity may be declining in New York City, one in five children in grades K-8 is still obese. This is not a time to let down our guard about foods and beverages that are most associated with obesity."

The feds released new data Tuesday showing that despite anti-obesity campaigns, two in three adults and one in three children nationwide weigh too much.

Those figures haven't budged much since 2003.

"It's good that we didn't see increases. On the other hand, we didn't see any decreases in any group," Centers for Disease Control researcher Cynthia Ogden told the Associated Press.